Quote-to-close rate

Quote-to-close rate is the share of estimates you sent that turned into paid work. If you sent 20 quotes and 5 became jobs, the rate is one in four. It is a backward look at a specific pile: quotes, not phone calls, not "people who seemed interested." Mixing leads and quotes makes the number meaningless and usually makes it look worse than the selling actually is.

Use it to ask a better question. A low rate with fast replies and real follow-up means the quote itself is the problem: scope, trust, or fit. A low rate with no second touch means you do not know, because silence is doing the work of a no. Follow up on a defined schedule for a month before you decide the quote is the issue. Many "we are not a fit" stories are "we sent it and never spoke again."

Segment the rate or it will lie. A drain call and a full replacement do not close on the same clock or the same odds. A small repair quoted in the driveway is not the same as a roof section that needs a spouse's yes. Look at them separately. Also ignore quotes you sent by accident or as a courtesy ballpark you never expected to win. If you would not follow up, it was not a quote in this count.

The CRM makes the count possible because won and lost are both recorded. A folder of sent PDFs cannot tell you the denominator. Puffly's pipeline is enough for this: estimate sent, then won or lost, with a task so the open ones do not sit. You do not need a BI tool. You need the cards to be true.

When the rate moves, change one thing at a time. The follow-up schedule, or the way the scope is written, or which leads you agree to quote. Changing all three at once teaches you nothing.